“Progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is achievable, but it is too slow and the costs of inequality are staggering,” the multilateral organization said in the report, “Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Focus on Gender Equality 2024.”
Produced by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the document finds that women now hold one in four seats in parliament, hailing this as a notable advance compared to ten years ago.
The share of women and girls living in extreme poverty has finally fallen below 10%, after increasing significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report authors report, noting that up to 56 legislative reforms aimed at closing gender gaps have been adopted worldwide since the first report in this series was published.
However, none of the indicators or sub-indicators of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (on gender equality) have yet been achieved, according to the data presented in the report.
At the current pace, gender parity in parliaments remains a “distant dream”, potentially unachievable until 2063, the study said, adding that it would take another 137 long years to lift all women and girls out of poverty.
“The report reveals an undeniable truth: progress is possible, but not fast enough,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.
As the Future Summit, scheduled for September 22-23 in New York, approaches, world leaders are being urged to find a new international consensus “to close the gender gap, achieve gender equality and advance the empowerment and rights of all women and girls — a distant but achievable goal,” she said.
Citing the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025 and delivering on the promises of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Women chief called for “continuing to break down the barriers faced by women and girls and to build a future where gender equality is not just an aspiration, but a reality.”
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